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I first stumbled onto the name of Edmar Fenicio as an arranger in the well know Chanterelle publication "PERNAMBUCO Famous Choros Volume 1 (Chanterelle 761)". Recently I ordered some of his music from GSP (California, USA): "Message to Jobim" & "Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro". Unfortunately there seems to be a dearth of information about this composer, at least outside of Brazil. My goal with this post is to establish a forum where guitarists can discuss his compositions and or details about this composer. To begin I'll include a few brief comments about the above pieces.

"Message to Jobim"

This is a pair of short pieces. The first titled "Dawn's Song" and as you'd expect is slow and somber in the key of b-minor. The 2nd titled "Evening's Prelude" is again slow but much brighter in the key of E-major. As I've said, these pieces are short, but together they would make a nice addition to any concert. Fenicio's writing is very idomatic. Chord shapes are jazzy and very colorful yet always remain comfortably under one's fingers.

"Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro"

This is a slightly more substantial piece (in length at least) in the form of a samba. Again the writing is very idiomatic, while the chords remain diverse and explore "flat" key areas. Even though you would encounter many of these chords in other Brazilian repertoire (i.e., Garoto) Fenicio still manages to remain original. Several altered chords plus some open strings here and there make his writing unique. I should note that Fenicio's writing in this piece is very sequential; he repeats chord prgoressions exactly often a wholetone away from the previous beginning chord. As a performer this enables you to get a lot of material with the same technical effort. Caution, there are a few wrong notes, but usually it's a missing accidental that's pretty obvious -- especially if you follow the sequential patterns. This tune has a moderate tempo and really swings!

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Edmar Fenicio is a fine composer and he also published a couple of arrangements and transcriptions of Baden Powell's works. He was recorded by players like Marco Pereira, but in Brazil it's kind of hard for composers to get a wider recognition if they don't develop a career as a performer, which is the case of Fenicio.

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Edmar Fenicio is a fine composer and he also published a couple of arrangements and transcriptions of Baden Powell's works. He was recorded by players like Marco Pereira, but in Brazil it's kind of hard for composers to get a wider recognition if they don't develop a career as a performer, which is the case of Fenicio.

Eugenio and Edwin

Fenicio is a close friend of mine and it´s exactly as Eugenio said. He has been a teacher and composer for all his life. His full name is Edmar Antonio Lovato Fenicio and he was born in 1939, June 12 in Minas Gerais State. Although retired he is still in action, works all the time writing, arranging and giving classes. He lives in São Paulo, a Brazilian city. Only a few part of his music was published, he has a lot of manuscripts.

IP

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Do you know of any recordings I might be able to track down to hear some of Fenicio's compositions? If not, would you be willing to ask him about recordings for me? I have really enjoyed what little I have heard of his work.

Thanks!

--Frank

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Do you know of any recordings I might be able to track down to hear some of Fenicio's compositions? If not, would you be willing to ask him about recordings for me? I have really enjoyed what little I have heard of his work.

Thanks!

--Frank

Frank

Excuse me for taking so long for answering. It seems that there are not many comercial recordings of Fenicio's music. In adition to the already mentioned recording of Choro Melancólico by Marco Pereira, Fenicio told me that a Canadian guitarist named Davis Joachim recorded, years ago, Memórias de Chiquinha Gonzaga. And that seems all. Unfortunately.

IP

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I was introduced to Edmar by Marcus Llerena about 30 years ago. He has a small guitar school in in the second floor of a two store building in Ave. Pedroso de Morais, São Paulo, the largest city of the country. He was very nice and cheerful guy who played a lot on the best José Ramirez III I´ve ever seen, guess the guitar was from late 60´s. Also he played some of his compositions which were rich and joyful showing a total knowledge how to write for the guitar using nearly all it´s resources.

Ivan, send my regards to Edmar.

Best,

Roberto Gomes

www.gomes.guitars.nom.br

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I was introduced to Edmar by Marcus Llerena about 30 years ago. He has a small guitar school in in the second floor of a two store building in Ave. Pedroso de Morais, São Paulo, the largest city of the country. He was very nice and cheerful guy who played a lot on the best José Ramirez III I´ve ever seen, guess the guitar was from late 60´s. Also he played some of his compositions which were rich and joyful showing a total knowledge how to write for the guitar using nearly all it´s resources.

Ivan, send my regards to Edmar.

Best,

Roberto Gomes

www.gomes.guitars.nom.br

Roberto

OK. He does not have access to internet yet. I'll show him these posts next time he come to visit me.